Journaling The InBetween Step 1

I started using my own InBetween journal today. I always find it easier to start with questions. So what are the questions I am sitting in, seeking clarity and guidance on? And where to begin in the journal?

With a LITTLE hesitation I pick up a fine point permanent marker.  I tell myself "you have thoughts, which you cannot erase, so why not write them in ink?" I open the journal and it naturally falls open to the fold in the center between the two journal sides. Of course! Start at the center and work your way out and back around in a circle to the InBetween on the other side.  Perfect. Having just returned from a two day retreat with my Ya Yas, I borrow the form, and create questions, from the Path of Balance layout we created from Angeles Arriens' incredible Tarot Handbook.  

We did this layout together with the intent to guide and inspire our conversation about where the world is right now, the opportunities and challenges that occur with President Obama seated, and where we fit in. We were both stunned silent and laughed aloud as each card fell into place, perfectly revealing the story we knew to be true from our unique view. Our homework, to make sense of it for ourselves and come back together in 5 weeks to plan 'what next?'.

My questions. What does it mean to use my communication skills to invite and embrace the opportunities to contribute and find joy in the change this new day makes possible? What does it mean to hold my relationships differently and fully, as the ground, reducing my frustration and opening up the floodgates of what I have to offer? Other questions arise on either side, the feminine and masculine, the voices from which I will explore the paradoxes I know I must come to terms with.

Freedom & Responsibility.

Individual & Collective.

I begin a conversation with many sides, with myself.